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By Ron Brothers & Anita Shaw 
Very little information has survived Miles A. Dillard. There are apparently no direct descendants left in the Lamar County. Anyone with information on this man is urged to contact the author. One will find conflicting information on the year of his birth nearly every record about the man. He married Lucinda O. Burrow on 22 Jul 1854 in Fayette Co., TN. According to family oral history Miles and his children went to church services while she remained behind and prepared dinner for the family. After preparing the meal and setting the table she went to the barn and committed suicide by hanging herself. The date was 21 Dec 1904. However, this date was a Wednesday and not a Sunday.
Miles A. Dillard is first recorded in the land records of Lamar Co. in on 25 Sep 1862 in Deed Book M, page 53 where he bought 50 acres for $1350 from Samuel A. and Minerva Johnson, located on the Sherrod Rowland Headright.
In Deed Book N, page 28 he bought 50 acres on 15 Jan 1864 for $253 from H. P. Miller, located on the R. G. Miller headright.
In Deed Book T, page 233 he again buys land for $200 from Henry P. and Agnes Miller on 16 Feb 1870 located on the R. J. Drummond Headright, located 8 miles south and 70 degrees east from the City of Paris.
There are many deeds on Miles Dillard in Lamar Co. An interesting transaction made 5 Sep 1893 was for a lost deed for 160 acres he bought from his former Confederate Commander Sam Bell Maxey for land located in the N. N. Baker survey.
Other land transactions under the name M. A. Dillard are from:
T. F. Evans, 1870, Book T, page 422;
John G. Moseley, 1870, Book V-17;
M. M. Sudduth, 1870, Book V-81;
H. M. Click, 1874, Book Y-13;
J. M. Kerr, 1876, Book 2B-491;
G. W. Ashford, 1878, Book 2D-516;
G. W. Ashford et al, 1879, Book 2H-263;
Theo Scrivner, 1883, Book 2Q-734;
J. A. Robinson, 1883, Book 2N-542;
W. H. Knowles, 1885, Book 2W-48;
William M. Ables, 1885, Book 2W-151;
James Alexander, 1885, Book 2W-152;
Mrs. H. A. Robinson, 1885, Book 2W-153;
and Edward Page, 1887, Book 53, page 91.
There are many other land transactions under M. A. Dillard. Unfortunately, a final deed, will or probate was not located in the Lamar Co. records showing perhaps descendants. It is possible that much of his land was sold to relatives and descendants before his death as there are many Dillard deeds under other names between 1880-1911.
His grave is marked by this inscription:
"Colonel Miles A. Dillard, Great Uncle of Jennie Nobles, fought in the Battle of San Jacinto. Helped to dress Sam Houston's wounds. Born in Illinois. Wife: Lucinda Burrow (after the war) Mr. Dillard settled in Texas. He lived in Blossom, Texas and died there May 2, 1911."
Efforts to locate Republic of Texas information by the compilers of the 9th Texas Infantry on Dillard have been fruitless. It is believed that his service in the Texas Revolution is questionable at best.
Gary Wisler found that Dillard served with Illinois volunteers during the War with Mexico. On April 7, 1888 he was issued pension #C16674 by the U. S. government for that service.
His Confederate Service Record as abstracted by Tim Bell states:
Captain Dillard, Miles A.- present February-April, 1862;
Elected Lt. Colonel at the reorganization of the regiment 8 May 1862. Originally Captain,
Company K, promoted to Lt. Col. May 1862 at the reorganization of the regiment;
Present, February-July, 1862; January-October, 1863;
3 Oct 1863- listed on Confederate Roll of Honor, General Order #131/3, for his action at the battle of Murfreesboro, TN;
Present, 5 Apr 1864
Sent to hospital at Newman, GA, 26 May 1864;
Absent, 10 Sep 1864; sent to Officer's Hospital, Newman, GA; unfit for field service, Army of
TN, Special Field Order #115, HQ, In the Field, 9/24/64.
Residence: Lamar County, Texas.
From a photocopy of an untitled paper in the 9th Texas Infantry folder at the Confederate Research Center, Hillsboro, TX, believed to be from Reminiscences of the Boys in Gray, 1861-1865, by Mary Yeary, Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1986:
"MILES A. DILLARD, Blossom, Texas - Born near Jackson, Tenn. Enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 in Lamar County, Texas, as Captain in Company K. Ninth Texas Infantry, S. B. Maxey's Brigade, Cheatham's Division, Polk's Corps, Army of Tennessee. I was first Captain and Maxey first Colonel. Was not wounded during the war, but at the battle of Murfreesboro had my horse killed, and a ball passed through my whiskers. Was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninth Texas Infantry, the senior Colonel being wounded. I was in command of the regiment quite a lot of the time. Was in the battle of Perryville, Ky.; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Chickamauga, and Jackson, Miss., besides many skirmishes. I served seventeen months in the war with Mexico, therefore, knowing more about army-rules than the most of the boys, they elected me to command the company. On our retreat from Perryville, Ky., we were ordered to Knoxville, Tenn. It was snowing and we had but one tent and that was occupied by the medical department. We had men without shoes, coats, hats and I do not suppose that we had more than a dozen blankets in the regiment.
We marched out on a ridge where the young timbers had grown up and the leaves were still on them, the boys went to building arbors and fires.
Gen. Maxey bad been ordered to Murfreesboro, and I had secured his tents, and then went back to Knoxville and got enough tents to supply each regiment with one. Also secured more clothing and a blanket for each man. In a few days we were in a more comfortable condition. We were then ordered to Murfreesboro. After this battle was over I was told that two of the boys said that when we were forming the line that they would be killed that day, and some one remarked to them: 'If I felt that way I would speak to the Colonel and not go into the battle.' One of them replied that the boys might think he was a coward, and he had rather die than be called a coward. They were both killed that day. When we were ordered forward some confusion occurred to the right of the Ninth Texas, but we went on and cut through the third line of the Federal Army. We would never have gotten through, but Gen. Cheatham ordered a brigade to our assistance. The brigade moved firmly and steadily, but never reached the firing line. When they got to within 100 yards of the Federal line the enemy wavered and the boys ran them to the next line, where they stood and fought until the brigade got up near and the same thing occurred again; that is the way we accomplished what we did.
At this time a rabbit jumped up, when Joe Russel of Collin County, Texas, saluted it as it ran off, and said: 'Go it, cottontail! If I had no more at stake than you, I would be leaving, too.'
We succeeded in cutting off the right wing of the Federal Army as they were going across a big field. I saw our cavalry coming out of the timber, and we stopped opposite Rosecrans' headquarters and the cavalry captured them. Just then a courier came to us with orders to fall back.
On our return we met Gen. Cheatham and be informed us that he wanted us to take a battery. This battery consisted of eighteen pieces, and our men had charged it the second time and failed to get it. We started, but before we got there our men had made the third charge and had taken it. In passing a farm house which the Federals had converted into a hospital, Gen. Cheatham was eulogizing the boys for their conduct, when two men walked out to the fence and remarked: 'General, you must think that you have fine troops.' He replied: 'Yes, if I had fifty thousand such men I could whip the whole Federal Army.'"
From the records of Lamar #258 United Daughters of the Confederacy: Awarded Cross of Military Service in Jan., 1905, to Lt. Col. Miles A. Dillard. He served in Co. K, 9th Regiment, Texas Infantry Volunteers.
From Rodgers & Wade Furniture Co. Funeral Records in possession of Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home; Book #7; p.255; Service #112; charged to deceased; order given by Joe Dillard; secured by same; date of funeral 3 May 1911; place of death St. Joseph's; services at Shady Grove; time 11 a.m.; Physician L. P. McCuistion; date of death 2 May 1911 at 7:20 a.m.; married; aged 90 years; body shipped to Sylvan 3 miles; casket manufactured by Texarkana; interment at Shady Grove Cemetery; casket price $60.00; burial robe $20.00; slippers or hose and underwear $2.25; hearse $25.00; total $107.25.
THE PARIS NEWS, Wednesday, May 3, 1911: "Col.
Miles Dillard, an old resident and a veteran soldier of
Lamar county, who was one of the oldest men in this
section, he being ninety-two years of age, died at 7:25
o'clock yesterday morning at the infirmary, where he had
been staying about ten days. The remains were taken to
the home below Sylvan in the afternoon and the funeral
will be held at 11 o'clock this morning at Shady Grove
cemetery. The deceased was the father of twelve children,
five of whom survive, four sons and a daughter. One of
the sons, R. E. Dillard, lives in Bowling Green, Ky., and
another, S. G. Dillard, lives in Little Rock. The other two
sons and the daughter live in Lamar county, T. H. Dillard
and Mrs. E. I. Hewgley at Blossom, and E. L. Dillard on
the home place below Sylvan. All of them were present at
the time of his death. Col. Miles Dillard was born in
Virginia and moved with his parents in 1825 to Illinois. He
and his brother, who was the father of Joe, Price and Hawk
Dillard, moved from Illinois to Texas in 1854 and located
in Lamar county, where he continued to reside up to the
time of his death. The deceased was a veteran of two
wars, having served in the Mexican war while he was living in Illinois, and having enlisted in the
Confederate service while a resident of Lamar county. He was a member of Gen. S. B. Maxey's
Ninth Texas regiment, which he helped to organize. He started out as captain of company K and
was the last colonel of the regiment. Dr. W. W. Stell of this city, who knew the deceased
intimately, both before the war and during the war said yesterday in speaking of his death that his
duties in the regiment were such as to place him in intimate touch with the deceased, that they
messed and bunked together, and that he always found him the true gentleman and brave soldier,
kind and considerate to all his men, both sick and well. Dr. Stell said he remembered on one
occasion he asked him about his relatives in the north, and that his answer was that they had
written him to go back and fight on that side, but he wrote them that his heart and soul were in
the South, because he believed it was right; that he did not want to hurt any of them, but that if
they wouldn't come South and join the army with him they had better keep out of his way in the
battles. Col. Dillard was a man of undaunted courage and was regarded as being absolutely
without fear. On one occasion during the campaign near Dalton, Ga., while the men were in the
breastworks Gen. Rains sent a courier to tell Col. Dillard to 'slope his men off down the hill,' Col.
Dillard told the courier to go back and tell Gen. Rains that he had been sloping his men down the
hill too much already. Then turning to his men he laughingly said: "Charge, boys, charge!" which
they did, and took a lot of prisoners and captured the battery. The deceased was a man of a
remarkably cheerful disposition and was full of life and activity up to within a short time of his
death. Everybody who knew him was attached to him and regarded him as a remarkable man in
many ways."
The following information on the family and ancestors of Miles Anderson Dillard is provided by Anita Shaw, 5105 Camino Dos Lagos, Sherman, TX 75090.
© Ron Brothers, 1998, All Rights Reserved.
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